CUP: Carson Hocevar’s team plays brilliant strategy, but the engine lets go
by Brock Beard / LASTCAR.info Editor-in-Chief
PHOTO: @GCRaceFan51
Carson Hocevar picked up the 4th last-place finish of his NASCAR Cup Series career in Sunday’s Straight Talk Wireless 400 at the Homestead-Miami Speedway when his #77 Zeigler Auto Group Chevrolet lost the engine after 184 of 267 laps.
The finish, which came in Hocevar’s 51st series start, was his first of the season and first in a Cup Series race since February 19, 2024 in the Daytona 500, 41 races ago. In the Cup Series’ last-place rankings, it was the 44th for the #77, the 724th from the engine, and the 867th for Chevrolet. Across NASCAR’s top three series, it was the 58th for the #77, the 1,151st from engine trouble, and the 1,979th for Chevrolet.
After an inauspicious start to his first full-time Cup Series season with Spire Motorsports – one that immediately followed a downright controversial end to his Truck Series championship effort in Phoenix – Hocevar became one of 2024’s big surprises. He earned six top-ten finishes and a season-best 3rd at Watkins Glen, prevailing in a competitive freshman class for Rookie of the Year. He’s already taken the next step, charging to a close 2nd this past February in Atlanta, but in so doing frustrated his fellow competitors with his now notorious aggression.
Hocevar’s Homestead weekend began on Friday as a pit reporter for the “Drivers Only” broadcast of the Truck Series race, where he had an awkward interview with Ross Chastain. Kyle Busch also spoke out about Hocevar on Kevin Harvick’s podcast earlier in the week. All this followed COTA, where Garrett Smithley stepped aside for Hocevar to be his “road course ringer” on the XFINITY side – only for Hocevar to drive without a functioning radio, then climb out after a minor accident that put the SS-Green Light Racing #14 in last place. But Hocevar has also become increasingly popular with fans. By Sunday, he was subject of a successful viral video by NASCAR’s social media team that referenced the video game “Grand Theft Auto.”
On the racing side, Hocevar ranked 24th of the 37 entrants in Sunday’s race, then improved to 15th in qualifying with a lap of 32.307 seconds (167.146mph).
Securing the 37th and final starting spot was J.J. Yeley, last fall’s last-place finisher at Homestead, whose #44 PCNY Chevrolet was the lone “open” entry in the field. The team boasted one of the many neon-hued paint schemes in the field, and the team indicated they were still finishing the design as it arrived at the track. Among the changes were silver foil numbers on the door in place of the car’s original white numerals.
Joining Yeley at the back on Sunday was 28th-place Erik Jones, whose #43 Family Dollar Toyota required repairs to the undertray. Addressing the starter’s stand, Jones lined up last on the outside line with Yeley staggered behind as the last car down low. Yeley crossed the stripe 3.066 seconds back of the lead to Jones’ 2.902. Heading through Turn 3, 23rd-place starter Denny Hamlin’s #11 Progressive Toyota got in the rear bumper of Cole Custer’s #41 Autodesk / Haas Tooling Ford, causing Custer to nearly lose control. As Custer gathered it back up, the field scattered clear back to Yeley, who pulled a four-wide pass on the apron to clear 36th-place Cody Ware’s #51 Jacob Construction Ford. This dropped Custer to last at the line, 4.408 seconds back of the lead.
As Custer caught his breath, he climbed back through traffic, dropping to last place Shane Van Gisbergen’s #88 Jockey Chevrolet for Lap 3, 6.139 seconds back of the lead. Van Gisbergen then made quick work of Yeley, who retook the 37th spot on Lap 4, 7.629 seconds back of the lead, with Van Gisbergen and Custer the next two cars ahead. By Lap 6, Ware had dropped back to 36th, 9.229 seconds back of the lead to Yeley’s 9.887, and Yeley’s spotter relayed how the leaders were changing their line around the track. Yeley responded that his car was free on entry, but tight at center and exit. By Lap 12, he was nearly two seconds back of Ware, then 3 seconds on Lap 18. On Lap 27, Yeley had fallen 32.559 seconds back of the lead to Ware’s 28.509, and Yeley was the first to be lapped the next time by.
Yeley was lapped just before the first round of green-flag stops, so the spot soon changed once more. On Lap 34, Custer retook the spot following his stop. Riley Herbst had slipped to 35th before he pitted his #35 Chumba Casino Toyota, which took last on Lap 37. Ware’s stop dropped him to last on Lap 40, followed by Yeley on Lap 41. That time by, Zane Smith was caught speeding in Section 2, dropping his #38 Aaron’s Ford to 35th with Ware 35th and Yeley still in last, now two laps down. On Lap 64, Yeley radioed he now lacked overall grip, and 36th-place Ware had just lost his second lap when the caution fell for Christopher Bell’s spinning the #20 Rheem Toyota on Lap 70. Bell lost a lap in 35th and dropped to the tail end of the longest line for entering a closed pit road. Since both Yeley and Ware took the wave-around, they were both on the same lap as Bell, who took last on Lap 75 before he dropped Yeley to last on the Lap 76 restart. Yeley was still last when Stage 1 ended on Lap 82, and Bell earned the “Lucky Dog,” putting him back on the lead lap.
During those final few laps of Stage 1, Hocevar had taken on fresh tires, then deliberately ran several seconds off the pace, planning to stay out during the stage break. This gave Hocevar the lead for the Lap 89 restart, and while he quickly lost the lead, he managed to remain in the Top 10, and pitted with the leaders during the next round of stops. On that same restart, Yeley and Ware remained one lap down, battling each other for the Lucky Dog. The team told Yeley that Lap 92 was his fastest lap of the race so far. On Lap 112, the damaged Bell had already been passed by Ware and was now being caught by Yeley, the #20 now five seconds back of the next lead-lap car. On Lap 124, Yeley and Ware both pitted under green, each now two laps down once more. They remained in those positions on Lap 166, when the caution fell to end Stage 2.
During the caution, Yeley remarked that the wedge adjustment the team gave him on his previous green-flag stop helped the car around most of the track except in Turn 3. The team made an air pressure adjustment under yellow and sent him back out. Yeley also took the wave-around while Ware did not, putting Yeley one lap down to Ware’s two, and dropping the #51 to last place for the first time on Lap 171. Meanwhile, Hocevar had fallen out of the Top Ten during the caution flag pit stops, and was running 12th on Lap 184 when he started to slow. After several cars sped past him down the backstretch, he came down pit road around 25th place. The crew lifted the hood, and Hocevar took last from Ware on Lap 187. The team pushed Hocevar’s car behind the wall on Lap 190, and on Lap 192 said, “We’re gonna do everything we can to diagnose it, but it looks terminal.” On Lap 199, the team then said “We’re out. We’re done,” and NASCAR declared them out with 51 to go.
Taking the 36th spot was Stage 1 winner Ryan Blaney, who led a race-high 124 laps and was still running 3rd off Turn 4 on Lap 208 when his #12 Dent Wizard Ford erupted in smoke that blanketed the entire frontstretch grandstands. The engine had let go, leaving flames trailing from the exhaust, and his car was soon towed behind the wall to the team’s hauler. This lifted Yeley to 35th, where he finished two laps behind 34th-place Ware, who was another two laps backof the leader. Herbst rounded out the Bottom Five after an unscheduled pit stop in the final laps dropped him back into the Bottom Five.
Allmendinger, Preece, Haley continue to turn their seasons around
In the early laps of Sunday’s race, A.J. Allmendinger was lauded by the FS1 booth for his strong finishes at Homestead in the NextGen car. He went on to finish 7th in the #16 Action Industries Chevrolet, his fourth-straight Homestead finish of 8th or better since the car’s introduction in 2022. This was also Allmendinger’s new season-best, his second-straight top-ten finish after an 8th last week in Las Vegas.
Also earning back-to-back top-ten finishes was Ryan Preece, whose #60 BuildSubmarines.com Ford finished 9th, lifting him into the Top 16 in the Playoff standings. This was Preece’s second-straight top-ten finish in a Cup race at Homestead, following a 10th for a closing Stewart-Haas Racing last fall.
Taking home 10th was Justin Haley in the #7 Gainbridge Chevrolet, his first top-ten finish of the year after a season-best 14th last week in Las Vegas, where he famously shot the gap between a wrecking Ryan Blaney and Erik Jones on the apron of Turn 3. It’s Haley’s best Cup finish since a 7th at Talladega last fall, and his best on a non-superspeedway since his 9th-place run last summer at Gateway.
LASTCAR STATISTICS
*The 184 laps completed by Hocevar is still only the eighth-most by a last-place finisher of a Cup Series race at Homestead. The record remains 240, set by Regan Smith on November 18, 2018.
*This marked only the second time the #77 finished last in a Cup race at Homestead. The only other occasion was on November 17, 2002, when Dave Blaney’s #77 Jasper Engines & Transmissions Ford crashed after 19 laps of the Ford 400 – the last race run on the track’s flat configuration.
*Hocevar is the first Cup driver to finish last after leading at least one lap since October 13, 2024, when Alex Bowman was disqualified from his 18th-place finish on the Charlotte “Roval” after leading five laps.
THE BOTTOM FIVE
37) #77-Carson Hocevar / 184 laps / engine / led 4 laps
36) #12-Ryan Blaney / 207 laps / engine / led 124 laps / won stage 1
35) #44-J.J. Yeley / 263 laps / running
34) #51-Cody Ware / 265 laps / running
33) #35-Riley Herbst / 265 laps / running
2025 LASTCAR CUP SERIES OWNER'S CHAMPIONSHIP
1st) 23XI Racing, Kaulig Racing, RFK Racing, Rick Ware Racing, Spire Motorsports, Trackhouse Racing (1)
2025 LASTCAR CUP SERIES MANUFACTURER'S CHAMPIONSHIP
1st) Chevrolet (3)
2nd) Ford (2)
3rd) Toyota (1)
2025 LASTCAR CUP SERIES DRIVER'S CHAMPIONSHIP
